A finger in the pie of Günther Grass. Interview with Claudio Groff

by Ada Vigliani

During a long chat Claudio Groff told us about his life as a translator from German with thirty years and about sixty books to his credit.  He talked about his roots in the Trentino region, his family, his education, the relationship between translation and his teaching work, the long period he spent in Austria, and his passion for Austrian literature and for contemporary authors in general. He gave us a lively description of his meeting with Günther Grass and his other translators and a meaningful encounter with Peter Handke against the backdrop of the Spanish meseta. In a few words he described his work methods and his relationship with pencil and computer; he revealed the serenity with which he is able to approach even the most demanding texts, also thanks to the ineluctable presence of his cat, Gatorosso.